SOUTH AMERICA. 27 



wind has uprooted it in its prime, and it has 

 brought down to the ground a dozen small ones 

 in its fall. Its bark has already begun to drop 

 off! And that heart of mora close by it is fast 

 yielding, in spite of its firm, tough texture. 



The tree which thou passedst but a little ago, 

 and which perhaps has laid over yonder brook 

 for years, can now hardly support itself, and in 

 a few months more it will have fallen into the 

 water. 



Put thy foot on that large trunk thou seest to 

 the left. It seems entire amid the surrounding 

 fragments. Mere outward appearance, delusive 

 phantom of what it once was ! Tread on it, 

 and like the fuss-ball, it will break into dust. 



Sad and silent mementos to the giddy traveller 

 as he wanders on ! Prostrate remnants of vege- 

 table nature, how incontestably ye prove what 

 we must all at last come to, and how plain your 

 mouldering ruins show that the firmest texture 

 avails us naught when Heaven wills that we should 

 cease to be ! 



" The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 

 Yea, all which it inhabit, shall dissolve, 

 And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, 

 Leave not a wreck behind." 



Cast thine eye around thee, and see the thou- 

 sands of nature's productions. Take a view of 



FIRST 

 JOURNEY. 



